Wow a Danny Elfman appreciation thread! Say it ain't so! And here I always thought SHH was full of Elfman haters.

Yeah I know this thread is old. It's cool to see a thread where people can talk and appreciate Elfman's music for once. I believe he's very underappreciated especially up here. People make comments like " His music sounds the same !", "His scores have no themes !", "All Elfman writes is circus music !", " He writes noise !", "Sounds like MV/RC !" etc. etc.

Yeah I really appreciate this man's work. He really has progressed and matured from his Batman/ Pee Wee/ Edward/Jack Skeleton days. I really do appreciate his more dense scores that he's been improving and expanding on since Dolores Claiborne (another great Elfman score). His two Spider-man scores are really underrated and showed how much he matured compared to Batman, Darkman, and Dick Tracy in the same genre.

Alot of people think he doesn't have range . The scores that he's done in the last decade say differently. He's scored everything from a teenager (Spider-man)who gets bit by a genetically altered super spider and uses his new abilities to fight crime out of his guilt of not being able to save his uncle's life. To a movie about a serial killer(Red Dragon) who's obssessed with a dragon and uses his obssession to prey on innocents b/c of his fractured childhood. To a terrorist unit (The Kingdom) getting justice in a different country for the deaths of innocent Americans while bonding with their new foreign colleagues. To a movie (Standard Operating Procedure)about the prisoners and their rights being abused in Guantanamo Bay. To a movie (Big Fish) about a dying father who tells tales (fact or fiction ) about his past while trying to bond with his son for the last time. To his recent movie ( The Next Three Days) about a husband/father who's willing to do whatever it takes to break his wife out prison for a crime he believes she didn't commit. That hasn't even scratched the surface. I coould go on and on.

I can't wait to see what he comes up with for that movie (TN3D). The movie looks interesting as well. They've already got soundclips up at amazon.com.

I'm also excited about the new Burton/Elfman box coming out next month. I don't care how much it costs. I want it. I know I wouldn't like myself much if I didn't purchase that. I'm really excited about this box and am anticipating it everyday. I can't wait for the book and dvd that comes with all the music as well.

Saw the movie yesterday. I thought it was really good. I also think Elfman wrote what was appropriate for the movie. Can't wait for this album. I'll probably end up getting it next year. Got to consume the Burton/Elfman Box when it arrives next month.

Yeah but if you like Proof of Life , The Kingdom, any other textural scores that Elfman wrote you should check this out. (Meaning the people who haven't seen the movie and heard the score to TN3D.)

Funny that Crowe was also in Proof of life . Another underrated score by Elfman that I sadly don't own. It's out of print now too.

Saw the movie yesterday. I thought it was really good. I also think Elfman wrote what was appropriate for the movie. Can't wait for this album. I'll probably end up getting it next year. Got to consume the Burton/Elfman Box when it arrives next month.

Yeah but if you like Proof of Life , The Kingdom, any other textural scores that Elfman wrote you should check this out. (Meaning the people who haven't seen the movie and heard the score to TN3D.)

Funny that Crowe was also in Proof of life . Another underrated score by Elfman that I sadly don't own. It's out of print now too.

Correction I'll have to consume the box next February b/c they just delayed it .

"We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don't completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art." -Takashi Murakami

Perhaps best known for his work with Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare before Christmas, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Alice In Wonderland), Danny Elfman’s celebrated film scoring career stretches back over thirty years and spans such huge brands like Batman, and Spider-Man. His Television work includes the signature themes for The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives.

Paul Haggis is an award-winning filmmaker, winning both Academy Award for best picture and best screenplay for Crash, also known for writing screenplays for outstanding Clint Eastwood productions Million Dollar Baby, Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. His recent blockbuster hits include Casino Royale and In the Valley of Elah.

“I cannot imagine a better collaboration than the one I had with Danny. It is an unarguable fact that he is a musical genius”
*- Paul Haggis*

The soundtrack includes two Moby songs, Be The One and Mistake, the former a brand new track scheduled to appear on Moby’s new album in 2011.

Elfman's Alice in Wonderland is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

I think he definitely deserves the nomination for Alice. Eventhough I dont care for the Grammys. Plus I think Zimmer is going to win for Inception considering how overpraised it is and how easily impressed some people are with it.

I think it's great Elfman is nominated, but (just like the Grammy nominations) I don't think he has a chance at winning. Still sweet his Alice score was nominated b/c it is a great score and winning an award doesn't have to show for it, imo.

Elfman is nominated for a BAFTA for his Alice in Wonderland score. BTW, in case anyone didn't catch the GG's Sunday night Elfman lost to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of The Social Network. Please. At least they don't have a shot at winning this award b/c they're not nominated. It's also cool to see Powell get recognition for HTTYD. Once again Elfman won't win. Either Desplat or Rahman have it in the bag.
It's still nice to see Elfman get some recognition, though

I finally got around to listening to Elfman's The Wolfman last Wednesday. Eventhough I've only listened to it once so far. I gotta say it's very good. Can't wait to listen to it again, when I get the time. It's a shame thet the score almost got rejected and is butchered in the final product. Too bad Elfman couldn't fix it to match the final cut b/c it would've conflicted with his scoring Alice In Wonderland. But what Elfman produced is still a nice score. I wish I could've bought this sooner since I got around to finally seeing it around it's dvd release. I liked all the tracks. I thinks it's paced well for a 66 minute album. The score although dense isn't as dense as his Sleepy Hollow, Red Dragon, or Hellboy II score at least, imo. I can probably give more of my thoughts on the score after repeated listenings. I can't really say much, but that I enjoyed Elfman's The Wolfman score. This movie was perfect for him.

I also just ordered Elfman's The Next Three Days from SAE. Can't wait for that one as well. I'll try to give my thoughts on that score whenever get it and am able to listen to it.

Wow in addition to waiting for The Next Three Days album to arrive at my address. I'm also anticipating my Elfman/Burton Box order, which is suppose to be shipping this month.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
• ALICE IN WONDERLAND, music by Danny Elfman
• DAYBREAKERS, music by Christopher Gordon
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I, music by Alexandre Desplat
• THE LAST AIRBENDER, music by James Newton Howard
• TRON: LEGACY, music by Daft Punk

Happy for Elfman's nominations. Yeah I know I say this a lot of times, but probably unlikely that he'll win. Oh well. Still great he's getting recognition. Too bad they forgot to nominate The Wolfman in the same category Alice was nominated in. The score should've been nomnated for something. It deserved some recognition, imo. All the hurdles for the score to be put back in the film etc.etc. Oh well nominated or not still a great score.

Nice to see the LLL Batman Returns reissue nominated for best archival release of an existing score.

Elfman's Alice in Wonderland is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

I know this is old ,but I didn't watch any of the Grammys on Sunday. According to FSM (Film Score Monthly)Toy Story 3 (Randy Newman) won the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media. Not surprised Elfman didn't win, but surprised Zimmer's Inception didn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elevator Man

The Golden Globe nominations are in and here are the nominess for best original score ;

I think it's great Elfman is nominated, but (just like the Grammy nominations) I don't think he has a chance at winning. Still sweet his Alice score was nominated b/c it is a great score and winning an award doesn't have to show for it, imo.

Once again this is old news, but in case anybody missed this and was wondering who won. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for The Social Network.

Elfman is nominated for a BAFTA for his Alice in Wonderland score. BTW, in case anyone didn't catch the GG's Sunday night Elfman lost to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of The Social Network. Please. At least they don't have a shot at winning this award b/c they're not nominated. It's also cool to see Powell get recognition for HTTYD. Once again Elfman won't win. Either Desplat or Rahman have it in the bag.
It's still nice to see Elfman get some recognition, though

Desplat (no surprise) won for The King's Speech. Although I knew Elfman wasn't going to get any of the awards. It's still nice to see his music get recognition. Too bad the Academy didn't bother giving him any recognition this year. When he should've been nominated for Alice. Oh well.

It looks like a Transformers/Iron Man ripoff. Nothing new. I'm not a fan of the director's. Don't really care for Hugh Jackman. If I look at this it is b/c of Elfman. I read the interview with Levy above. He keeps talking about bringing in this group and that group to write songs for the robot fighting matches or whatever. He also mentioned that the love scenes or whatever with Jackman and Evangeline Lilly won't be scored. So what's the point of hiring Elfman. This turkey is going to waste Elfman's talents. Oh well.

Hopefully Gus Van Sant's "Restless" will take more advantage of Elfman's talents. Most likely it will since Elfman and Van Sant have collaborated many times and they are friends. Plus Elfman was nominated for two Oscars for his scores to two Van Sant movies (Good Will Hunting and Milk).

Looks interesting. Eventhough I'm usually not into these type of movies. But I'm curious to see what Elfman comes up with for this. I'm sure it'll be interesting b/c he always come up with interesting scores for Van Sant's movies. Except for Psycho (1998). Also this was suppose to come out in January, but got pushed to October. I've heard that Elfman's already scored this. It's just sitting on the shelf till October.

Oh and LOL Alice is in this movie.

It looks like "Restless" and "Real Steel" is all Elfman has on his plate this year. Well so far anyway.

I finally got Elfman's The Next Three Days score in the mail yesterday. Can'r wait to listen to it, whenever I have the time that is. I'lll give my thoughts on it up here whanever I give it a listen.

Also I'm hearing talk that the Elfman/Burton Music Box is now shipping March 22 instead of this month. Eventhough the website still claims it's shipping this month. It's getting to the point to when I finally get the box I probably won't care as much.
If this dates true it'll be almost 6 months till this darn thing finally arrives. Oh well I'll have "The Next Three Days" and plenty other Elfman/non Elfman albums to keep me company while I wait for this blasted Box.

According to Film Score Monthly the winners for the IFMCA awards are the ones in bold.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elevator Man

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR • Alexandre Desplat• Danny Elfman
• James Newton Howard
• John Powell
• Hans Zimmer

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
• ALICE IN WONDERLAND, music by Danny Elfman
• DAYBREAKERS, music by Christopher Gordon
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I, music by Alexandre Desplat
• THE LAST AIRBENDER, music by James Newton Howard• TRON: LEGACY, music by Daft Punk

Congratulations to Elfman for winning film composition of the year for his cue "Alice's Theme" from Alice In Wonderland. It's very deserving of the award. In fact I think winning that award is better than winning film composer of the year and best original score for a fantasy/sci-fi/horror film. That's impressive that cue won especially with the competition it was up against. So that says a lot. "Alice's Theme" really is a great and memorable piece of music. I think it captures the spirit, tone, and heart of the Lewis Carroll book and Burton's film at the same time. So I'm happy it got the award and recognition. Nice to see Elfman win something for a change.

After repeated listens I believe Elfman's The Wolfman score is underrated. In fact probably one of the most underrated scores of last year. This score gets better and better for me after every listen. I enjoy every track. This score is back to Elfman's roots and more.

I've heard that "Wolf Suite #1" was supposed to be the main title for the film, but was cut. I don't know how much truth is into that. But it's a shame that the studio wanted to reject this great score from the film . This to me was the best thing about the film after I saw it. I know the music was butchered and rewritten in some parts by another composer.

The movie had as much problems as the score. This movie had so much potential. With Joe Johnston stretching his directing skills for this, Benicio Del Toro (who already looks weird and strange without the make up), Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, Emily Blunt, the great Rick Baker providing the make up, Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay, Rick Heinrichs' production design, and of course Danny Elfman providing the score. This used to be one of the most anticipated movies upon it's original release. Until they delayed it a bunch of times and almost rejected Elfman's score. I waited to see it on dvd b/c of the bad buzz and reviews it was getting. The movie was okay but could've been much much better, imo. Oh well at least I got the score to enjoy. Which is one of the few things that lived up to the potential the movie had, imo.

Finally got around to listaning to the score to Elfman's The Next Three Days last night. On first listen this is a very impressive effort from Elfman. It's one of those textural and experimental scores (The Kingdom, Proof of Life, for example) from Elfman. I'm a fan of his approach to that type of writing. Tracks that really stood out for me on first listen "Pittsburgh's Tough", "Don Quixote", "Last Three Months", "The Bump Key", "A Warning", "Breakout", and "The Truth". Overall I believe it to be a really strong effort from Elfman. And an overlooked score. There's a lot more drama in the score than you'd expect from a score or movie like this. This is another example of Elfman able to score a suspense and drama film like this and not just CBM, and fantasy movies. I can't wait to give this another listen, whenever I get a chance. You tend to notice things that you didn't notice on your first listen. Especially with Elfman's scores of the past 15 years.

Pretty cool. I would love to hear what he came up with for this, b/c this is perfect for his typical and usual style. Too bad the Mystic Manor ride is at the Hong Kong Disneyland and not in America. Oh well.

Okay so last Tuesday. I finally got my Elfman and Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box. I finally started listening to it yesterday. With Pee Wee and Beetlejuice. I'll try to listen to Batman (which I 'll talk about in Music box thread since it was talking Batman and BR being in the collection) soon. I want to bump this thread and keep it alive.

Anyway I thought the Pee Wee score was nice. I'm not that familiar with the film. Haven't seen it all in it's entirety in years. The sound quality of the score is great and sounds brand new. I've heard that it's still missing some tracks. But I enjoyed it. It's probably one of Elfman's wackiest and most fun scores he's ever written. It's neat to listen to now b/c he's really evolved from that sound and style. As well as matured as a film composer.

Beetlejuice was also great. Still missing a few tracks as well. i'm not complaining. It's good that they added back in Elfman singing "Day-O" in the "Main Title" track. They dialed him out of the main title on the original album. It was real nice to hear the source music for the waiting room scenes he wrote. As well as the Beetlejuice commercial. I thought it was neat how they put his synth mock-up of the main title (that Elfman claims only Burton has only heard). It sounded exactly like the way it was in the film. Almost, anyway.

I enjoyed both scores, eventhough I have the original albums from both. Hopefully I'll be able to listen to both Batman and Edward Scissorhands tonight.

the lalaland extended B89 elfman score CD is friggin AMAZING! i got it a couple months ago and its got sooooooooo much of elfmans music on it, even the jokers commercial music!

Thanks for posting it's nice to reply to someone up here other than myself. I agree with you I have both LLLcds to B89 and BR. As well as their original albums that I got a little over a decade ago. I hope LLL is working on BF ( I missed out on the original album) and B&R, which never got a release.

But yeah I plan on listening to the music box version to B89's score tonight. It has the original album's tracks with the same edits. As well as bonus tracks (some of the bonus tracks LLL already released) it also worktapes and synth demos of some cues that Elfman composed . I can't wait to hear it.

I've also heard that the "Batwing I" cue has the complete ending in the Music Box release. The LLL release edited a few seconds at the end. I think the prince song (Trust) cut it off in the film. I think that had something to do with why they couldn't recover the rest of the cue, which is probably only a few seconds. Can't wait to hear it.

i dont get the music that plays before the "batwing" cue. its all screeching violins and the begining of the tracj is titled "joker flies to gotham". was it supposed to be joker in his copter?

Yeah. I think in the liner notes of the LLLCD. They explained why it was dialed out of the film. I think it was b/c they didn't want the music competing with the helicopter sound effects or something. But I like that particular piece. Very powerful and iconic, imo. Moments like that in particular is why Elfman's bat scores easily eats Zimmer's & Howard bat scores for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.